Shortland Street

Settling into the Street

Six months on from his character's surprise entrance on
Shortland Street, 14 year old Geordie Holibar says
he has finally had some time to settle into his role as Phoenix
Raynor.

"It was a pretty nerve-wracking experience starting at
Shortland Street. There's so much to learn and
it's such a fast-paced environment," says Holibar. "But I feel a
lot more at home here now."

Following in his well-known grandmother, Liddy Holloway's
(ex-Shortland Street), footsteps, Holibar realised that he wanted
to become an actor when he was ten years old.

"I told mum that that's what I wanted to do, and she was OK with
that," says Holibar. "We organised an agent, and I landed my first
role on the TV show Interrogation a month later."

Juggling his time at
Shortland Street with high
school, Holibar says it's been a pretty full-on six months, but
that life hasn't changed too much.

"It's a little strange being recognised on the street. I
sometimes forget why they think they know me," says Holibar. "But
my family still treat me exactly the same, and my friends still
hassle me just as much - some things never change!"

Though Holibar works closely with his onscreen dad, Michael
Galvin (Chris Warner), a lot of his storylines are now based around
the other teens of Ferndale.

"I have lots of fun with Frankie (Ula), Tyler (Evan) and Pearl
(Jasmine)," says Holibar. "It's been cool working with people your
own age because you know that you're all going through the same
kind of thing."